Buying a new wireless router can be overwhelming — there are hundreds of options, and new ones are released all the time. Sorting through all of the information can take days. But if you know the right questions to ask, the process will be much easier and you’ll be happy with your purchase.

Here are eight questions you should ask when buying a new wireless router.

Keep this in mind as you look at wireless routers, and try to be honest with yourself. You don’t always need the latest and greatest, as much fun as it is. Buying something that meets your needs without breaking your budget is the most important goal you should have in buying a router.

How much should you spend?

This question almost always comes up, and it’s a difficult one to answer. The amount that you spend will be determined by your answers to the questions that follow. I use the $125 TRENDnet AC1900 TEW-818DRU, a dual-band wireless router with a mid-range set of features, and it’s fantastic.

How many bands?

One of the first things that you’ll notice about routers is that there are single-, dual-, and tri-band routers. To put it simply, what this means is that you’ll have one, two, or three different wireless networks available in your house.

In general, a dual-band router that provides one network at each frequency is going to be the most versatile. It provides the highest speed, but also accounts for older devices that can’t connect to the faster network. If you’re very concerned about your wireless speed, operate multiple (perhaps 10 or more) wireless devices in your home or business, a tri-band router might be worth the increased expense.

Which wireless standard?

There are a number of wireless standards — 802.11a, 802.11b/g/n, and 802.11ac. If you’ve bought a computer in the past few years, you’ll almost certainly be able to connect to an 802.11n network, which has been the primary wireless standard for the past six years or so. It has the potential to allow connections to 2.4GHz or 5GHz networks, depending on your computer.

The newer 802.11ac standardEverything You Need To Know About AC RoutersEverything You Need To Know About AC RoutersWhile wireless standards lack a logical progression in terms of letters, the technology under the hood is notable, and with each new release we get one step closer to painless connectivity.Read More is significantly faster than any of the other standards, but because it’s still new and evolving, many computers aren’t equipped to handle it. However, if you’re also planning on upgrading your computer to support wireless-AC, then a 802.11ac router is probably your best bet, because it’s also backward-compatible with older wireless devices.

If you’re not sure which wireless standards your computer can use, you’ll need to run some sort of system report. On my Mac, I went to to the Apple menu > About this Mac > System Report > Wi-Fi, and you can see above that it works with any of the standards listed above.

What speed?

Router specifications often include a number of transmission speeds listed in megabits per second (Mbps). Because it’s listed in the same units as your promised Internet speed, it can be a bit confusing — this has nothing to do with how fast your Internet connection is. It’s only how fast your router can transmit data. So if you have a 300 Mbps Internet connection, a 900 Mbps router won’t make it any faster.

Will you be using accessories?

You can plug all sorts of things into your router to give them access to your network, like printers, hard drives, TVs, and smart home devices. If you plan on connecting a number of devices to your router, make sure it has enough USB or ethernet ports to support all of those devices.

Just about any brand of wireless router will serve its purpose. If you find the right specs at a reasonable price, it’s probably from a reputable company. If you find one from a brand you’ve never heard of, it might be a good idea to do some research — check reviews on Amazon and look at other products they make.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment

Name *

Email *

Callum Palmer

January 24, 2018 at 1:02 am

These are some fantastic questions; after all, when you're looking for a wireless router there are a lot of factors that you have to consider. I particularly like that the article emphasizes the importance of speed when it comes to choosing a router. As many people will tell you, speed is a key feature to any internet connection, so you want to make sure that the router you choose can supply it. https://buyyourownmodem.com/comcast-telephone-modems-emta/

Do i have to Pay an additional fee to my provider even though i bought my own router? I need to print from my iphone or ipads. I feel like Apple really gave me a shaft when i cannot hook up to my printer directly from either device.
Wants to charge me $30.00 or $360.00 a year to print maybe a hundred pages in an entire year. Mostly church stuff. AT&T. BUMMER.
Thank you ...

Another feature I've found invaluable is a VPN server right on the router. Some streaming video options, for example, will only function if the connection appears to be coming from a home Internet connection and VPN is a great way to use them on the go. Or the more practical benefit might just be the ability to encrypt when using typical public wifi from a smartphone by just flipping the VPN on. I've been holding on to an old Buffalo router that shipped with DDWRT for just that use, but this article has reminded me I aught to shop for an upgrade that keeps that feature.

Just saw Routers long explnt. and it is out of my understanding (Old) I've bought two routers one has an an antenna and is lacking in power, the other has two antennas (linksys). I'd like to know if ther's a way to link them and get a stronger signal. Thanks

I'm not aware of any way to connect two routers, but hopefully someone else with more extensive experience with router hardware can comment. As far as I know, routers don't burn out—I mean, they might after a long time, like any piece of equipment, but I don't think it's generally something to be worried about. Like I said, hopefully someone with more hardware experience can comment.

Thanks for answering this question—the Ubiquiti Unifi sounds like a good option. Any router with an extra-powerful antenna will give added range, but if you can get on your network from more than 100m away, that sounds like a really good way to go.

Dann is MakeUseOf's Creative editor. After an MA (and most of a PhD) in psycholinguistics, he fully committed to digital and print journalism. With over 10 years of professional writing experience, he's written about everything from cognitive science to mountain biking.